Epicor Extends Retail CRM's Reach

CRM provider offers retailers a clearer view of their customers with channel- and geography-spanning multi-divisional support.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) software specialist Epicor today announced a new version of its CRM product aimed at retailers during NRF 2013, the National Retail Federation's tradeshow taking place this week in New York City.

The product, dubbed Epicor Retail CRM 7.0, brings automation to store loyalty and rewards programs and offers new functionality like multi-divisional support using a single database, according to the company. New query tools "designed for visual thinkers" employ a flow chart paradigm, eliminate multiple queries and offer faster debugging.

For retailers, it all adds up to a CRM platform that offers a clearer, more inclusive view of their customers and empowers veterans and newcomers alike, says Epicor product director Dave Burton.

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"Multi-division capabilities open up a whole new world of possibilities to many retailers who currently operate without a holistic view of customers across their brand family, while new query functionality and loyalty automation will astound CRM power users and make ramp-up easy for 'CRM newbies'," noted Burton in a statement.

Epicor Retail CRM 7.0 has undergone a complete redesign, and as a result users are treated to several time-saving interface tweaks including new streamlined customer views. The real draw is new, "out of the box" multi-divisional support.

Viewed as the foundation for multi-tenant CRM on the company's platform, multi-divisional provides larger retailers with a comprehensive, omni-channel view of customers. This view can span across brands, channels and even continents, according to Epicor.

One obvious advantage of Epicor's single-database approach is that it alleviates a big pain point for large organizations: managing multiple databases. Another benefit of multi-divisional support, says Epicor, is that the capability extends CRM to franchise markets.

Already, one retailer is putting Epicor Retail CRM through its paces and improving the reach and effectiveness of its rewards program.

Kim Lewis, CRM director for Charming Charlie, a seller of fashion jewelry and accessories, stated, "Using Epicor Retail CRM to collect and analyze customer information, our email subscriber base continues to grow as customers respond to our CRM initiatives. All of our program metrics have improved -- to the tune of a 600 percent increase in email delivery year-over-year this past quarter."